See No Evil: Details of Joshua Richards' heart donation to Illinois man explored

Joshua Richards, the victim of the 2013 nightclub shooting in Appleton, had signed up to donate his organs at the young age of 16. Upon his death, his parents coordinated with the American Tissue Services Foundation to have his organs donated to people in need when they found Benjamin Adler.

Benjamin Adler was a Navy veteran who had his first heart attack in 2003 and was bedridden with severe heart failure. Adler required a heart transplant and allegedly had less than 24 hours to survive for the cardiologists detected a blood clot in his heart.

Adler received Joshua Richards' heart and met the family five months after the heart transplant surgery. He was also present at Joshua Richards' murder trial when Chong Lee was sentenced to life in prison.

The See No Evil episode titled Run for the Door chronicles the 2013 shooting death of Richards' as the synopsis reads,

"Josh Richards is shot execution style in the middle of a nightclub in Appleton, Wisconsin. When detectives delve deeper into the investigation, they discover a camera has the potential to reveal the identity of a killer."

Season 6, episode 3 reairs on January 17, 2024, at 6 p.m. EST on Investigation Discovery.

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"This is a no-brainer. What am I going to do with them?" - Joshua Richards' signed up for organ donation at 16

According to the American Tissue Services Foundation, Joshua Richards had signed up to be an organ and tissue donor when he received his driver's license i.e. at the age of 16. Josh was known to be a hardworking man who believed in the act of giving and helping others. He was 25 years old when he was the target of a shooting at the Luna Lounge, W. College Avenue, Appleton on December 7, 2013.

Joshua Richards' mother, Jacquelyn Michael Pische spoke to Post-Crescent Media on June 11, 2014, saying,

“He said, ‘This is a no-brainer. What am I going to do with them? That’s the kind of person Josh was. He would have done anything for anybody.”

In January 2014, Jackie Pische started the Joshua J. Richards Charitable Foundation to bring more attention to organ donation and arrange for necessary resources for children in need.

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"Instead of being angry or upset, turn it around and turn something good out of a really bad situation.” - Jackie Pische

Ben Adler, a Navy veteran, had suffered five heart attacks since 2003. He had been visiting multiple cardiologists all of whom mentioned a heart transplant but failed to complete the transplant paperwork for him.

Adler was bedridden due to severe heart failure and ended up on a ventricular assist device at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison from Chicago.

He was subsequently put on a transplant list and has been in touch with Jackie Pische since the beginning of 2014 through the efforts of The University of Wisconsin Organ and Tissue Donation.

Pische further stated in the Post-Crescent Media,

"Just to hear those stories and know that before getting that phone call Dec. 8, they were looking at maybe not making it through the holidays — that’s pretty powerful stuff. With a murder trial looming, everybody has to make a decision about how you’re going to handle something like that. Instead of being angry or upset, turn it around and turn something good out of a really bad situation.”

Adler added,

"I was told the morning after the transplant that it was very, very unlikely I could have lived another 24 hours. They found a blood clot ... and it would have gone into my heart and given me a massive stroke."

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Joshua Richards' tissues benefitted more than 50 people in 9 states and Switzerland along with his mother, Jackie Pische. According to a 2015 report by the USA Today Network, Richards' organs went to seven people, his corneas helped two people in Wisconsin and his tissues were used in over 239 grafting procedures.